Lilligren Pastured Poultry Pictures

We now have two years of experience raising pastured poultry.  We raised 100 in 2001 and 400 in 2002.  This page includes pictures from both years.  Check out these photos that tell the story of how we raised what we believe to be the best-tasting chicken in the world!

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If you would like to see these pictures without using thumbnails, the folks at the Market Farming website have arranged them quite nicely.

WARNING!  Some of the later pictures are not for the squeamish!  

	Here are some of the 2001 broiler chicks at two days old.
	Here's our 2001 Gold Link egg layers at two days old.
	In 2001, we used makeshift brooder boxes that we put in the back porch for the first week.
	In 2002, we used old cattle watering troughs as brooders.  In this picture, there are about 120 in each brooder, and put them in our garage to protect them from predators
	Here's the brooder that contained exclusively broiler chicks.
	Here's the brooder that contained a combination of broiler chicks and black sex links (egg layers).
	In 2002, we made our second pen.  This is the nearly-finished product.
	In 2001, we used a couple of wheel dollies to move the pens each morning.  In 2002, we modified the rear bottom of the pen by wrapping it with a piece of 4" PVC thin-walled drain pipe.  This served as the functional equivalent of the front part of a ski.  Our thanks to Robert Plamondon of Oregon for coming up with this idea.
	How does one pull a 10' x 12' pen by himself?  We rigged an eyebolt at each corner of the front of the pen, and tied some nylon rope between them.  Note the piece of old garden hose that is used as a handle.
	Here is the finished product (minus the removable top covers).
	In 2002, we went from bell waters to ones we made ourselves.  All we used were food-grade 5-gallon plastic pails (with lids) and a 3 gallon shallow pan (somewhat akin to the old oil pans backyard mechanics use).  We drilled a small hole near the top of the bucket, which, when turned upside down, provided an outlet for the water to come out only to that level.
	Bel is watering the broilers in our first home-made pastured poultry pen in 2001.  This pen was moved every morning, to allow the birds to graze on fresh grass.
	Here are the 2002 pens in operation.  The chicks were put out to pasture at about 3 weeks of age, and were placed there about two days apart, allowing for some overlap.
	Here's a 2002 pen shortly after moving in the morning.  Notice how much grass the broilers eat each day!
	This is the morning of our first butchering day in 2001.  They have been in this moveable pastured pen for four weeks (after four earlier weeks in the brooder house).  They certainly look plump for 8 weeks old!
	This is our processing area that we used in 2001.  Most of the equipment that we made, purchased or borrowed is visible in this picture.  In 2002, we used a larger scalder and a larger propane tank.
	This is the "killing machine" that Dave made.
	Here are some of the broilers awaiting their fate.
	Here are some of the broilers who just met their fate.
	This is the mechanical picker in action.  This machine was made by a neighbor, who graciously offered to lend it to us.
	Bel is showing Dave the fine art of mechanical plucking.
	Bel is a very good eviscerater.  Here she is in action.
	Here are some of the final product.  This is a great use of our old bath tub (which was sterilized before each use).
	Here are some more finished chickens.
	One of our friends, Maureen Johnson, who came up to buy some chickens, lends a hand.  That's Bel's sister, Luz, who was visiting from the Philippines, standing in the background.
	Here's Luz, helping out.

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